09/10/2025
Grandma loves rock is in Wolverhampton at KK’s Steelmill for the weekend at New Wave Of Classic Rock (NWOCR) LiveFest 4
- with Granddad standing at the barrier to take photos.
Grandma settled down for a weekend of great music and for the 1st time both had press passes. Day 1 included Yaki Hah, Shape of Water, Juliet’s Not Dead, The City Kids, Austin Gold, Troy Redfern, Empyre, and the headline act These Wicked Rivers.
Introductions were made throughout the day by Pete Mally and he did a wonderful job introducing all.
First on was Yaki Dah a four-piece band from South Wales, members consisted of Francesco-Drummer, James-Bass, Jack (Lee)- Lead Guitar and Jacob Ethan Tanner who joined the band in February providing amazing vocals.
The band had good stage presence Grandma loved Jacob’s vocals especially when he sang part of War Pigs by Ozzy Osbourne from Black Sabath, the guitar work was fantastic and Grandma was very impressed with Francesco on drums, Grandma’s only comment was when Jacob started removing his clothing on stage, she was upset when he stopped!
Would Grandma want to see them again-Hell yes!
Shape of Water Stalker Alert! Gosh! Where has this band been? Amazing wall of sound and Grandma didn’t take her eyes of the stage, tremendous drumming by Fin, and the stage presence of Rox Capriotti who provided vocals and bass, he has a hypnotic voice, Grandma was also impressed with Luca De Falco with his lead guitar work and vocals.
Grandma really liked the song “Last Goodbye” as she loved how the stage graphics matched the song adding to the overall enjoyment of the set. The audience stayed captivated and seemed 100% immersed in the experience, Grandma is going to apologies to the boys for the start of all the stalking to come and she has found a new band to fall in love with.
Juliet’s Not Dead Grandma really likes JND- the vocals delivered by Stevie Stoker were superb! What Grandma was impressed with was during the second song Jack, the drummer had an issue with a symbol, the band continued whilst the stage crew fixed it- no fuss, no bother no concern!
Grandma was very impressed with Daniel King and Josh Fodden on their guitar work and Jack Corbett who covered the drums and did not stop throughout the set.
Grandma has seen Juliets Not Dead a few times now and was not disappointed with the performance, she is looking forward to the next time.
The City Kids Grandma’s first time of seeing this band and she loved JJ’s voice, low and gruff. He even started a song with a Showaddywaddy song by singing “Lets go for a little walk”.
The City Kids did a fantastic job but Grandma will admit this style of rock is not her cup of tea, they are a band that on their page consider themselves as Northern grit and a Danish Flair, a bunch of ragtime, rock n’roll reprobates, part punk, park sleazy gutter-trash dirt.
Grandma met the band and would call them Gentlemen; she had a wonderful conversation with JJ and was sorry when he left. Other band members consisted of Berty Burton - Bass, Dave Sanders - Drums and Dennis Post - Lead Guitar.
Austin Gold It was great to see a keyboard on the stage with this band, and it worked well, the keyboard player also provided great vocals, well done Adam Leon.
David James Smith had a wonderful singing voice and pronounced his words very well, he can also play a great guitar, other impressive band members were Lee Churchill - bass guitar and James Pepper - drums and vocals.
Grandma would definitely like to see them again as she enjoyed their slower rock vibes.
Troy Redfern Grandma is in love with this performer! She even got her photo taken with him and his drummer Nicky Waters, it was just the two of them on the stage and Grandma liked the no thrills approach.
Troy is an amazing Blues rock guitarist and vocalist who produces good descent music, he can make his guitar sing! Grandma wishes she could bottle up his sound to keep with her, it was pure enjoyment and a fantastic wall of sound.
Since kidnapping is illegal, she had to have her photo taken and buy a CD as compensation. Grandma has asked Granddad to get her more opportunities to listen to Troy live.
Empyre Grandma has seen this band previously and left very confused! Today Grandma asked lead vocalist Henrik Steenholdt for an explanation to why the booing? Henrik explained that they are never sure if the audience likes them and can just stand and stare with arms crossed, this continued until the last song when they said “its our last song” and everyone booed, he explained they are more subdued band and mentioned they are the Panto villains who kill the vibes, so now they like any form of noise, booing is good and so was a previous football style chant of “you’re s**t and you know you are”.
When Empyre was on stage Grandma enjoyed the band very much, she loved the interactions and banter between them and the crowd, Henrik and Did Coles - lead guitar were very good at encouraging audience participation and gave as good as they got! Elliot Bale on drums and Grant Hockley on bass also performed extremely well.
Grandma would like to congratulate Chris who was proposed to by Pete during the set on stage, congratulations to you both!
These Wicked Rivers Last on was the headline band These Wicked Rivers, Grandma really loved the stage, decorated with floor lamps, flowers, hat stand, world globe and a mantel clock.
Band members were smartly dressed in suits, shirts and the most amazing shoes/boots. This band definitely gave a fantastic 70’s vibe. Grandma really liked the song “The Riverboat Man”, it has a wonderful guitar solo and drumbeat.
There Wicked Rivers also sang a new song called “Horse to Water” with great harmonies and guitar work, really loved the quiet area in the song. Music was to die for, great vocals, drum beat and guitar work, loved the keyboard player who was multi-talented, he also provided vocals, harmonica, tambourine and acoustic guitar.
The lead guitarist came down and sat on the barrier and interacted well with the crowd, this band provides and amazing immersive experience not to be missed, band members consisted of John Hartwell - vocals and rhythm guitar, Dan Southall - Drums, Arran Day- lead guitar and vocals, Rich Wilson - keys and much more and Adam Brewell - bass guitar.
Another band added to Grandma’s wish list.
Day one was amazing, and Grandma would like to congratulate all the staff at KK’s who helped to make day one a fantastic event and here’s to a wonderful day two.
